Die Physiker

What Hacker News says

1. datsci_est_2015Jul 2026
   We can argue about whether the OP should have found a more elegant way to call out the commenter he was responding to, of course. But I stand my ground firm that this industry needs an extreme dose of self-reflection injected directly to its heart, and shame seems to be an effective medium available to us as peer technologists. There are different methods of shaming, of course, but ideally those who are currently earning money from unethical sources should feel ashamed. Furthermore, whether someone does feel ashamed because of what someone commented should not be a criteria for whether a comment is a “personal attack”.

   Humans use shame to correct antisocial behavior, and humans feel shame in order to avoid antisocial behavior. The technology professions are rife with antisocial behavior. Our leaders are chosen and their behavior is optimized as antisocial, for shareholder (and personal) short-term growth.

   > Weapons, of course, cut both ways; Ukraine is pushing back against an aggressor by using weapons, long range sensing, passive radar, etc.

   This is an entirely different subject that I don’t think we should get sidetracked by. I’ll just recommend Die Physiker (or one of its translations) as a fun starting point for radicalization against the argument you presented.

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2. defrostJul 2026
   > as a fun starting point for radicalization against the argument you presented

   As a gentle reminder, it was yourself that raised weapons as a moral dilemma, I responded with no argument other than a plain observation.

   > but ideally those who are currently earning money from unethical sources should feel ashamed

   More often they likely sleep deeply on sheets of insanely high thread count, shame only goes so far to effect change.

   > I’ll just recommend Die Physiker

   If I recall correctly that came up when I had a long discussion with Mark Oliphant in the late 1970s, William Tutte had a few books of his own to recommend on similar themes not long after.

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3. cycomanicDec 2022
   I highly recommend for anyone in tech to read Die Physiker at least once. Not only is it incredibly funny, but also very thoughtful and is timeless (as you point out)
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4. dmesgSep 2025
   The central problem here is this:

   In the Physicists from 1961 (German: Die Physiker, F. Dürrenmatt) the central theme is that scientists cannot "uninvent" something. Encryption is here to stay. Mathematically proven. Period.

   The criminals will just flock to the "real encryption" and not the honeypots/backdoored messengers as they are being caught. In the end word of mouth will spread: "This is safe, this is unsafe."

   Just because a few Kremlin bots on Telegram are brainwashing people in the west, the west doesn't have to become North Korea.

   Defending the innocent law abiding adult Joe, just wanting to send their honey pics in private is a distractor in this argument. I will not sacrifice my western standards just because 0.1% people are inherently evil.

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5. jll29Dec 2022
   Even if your employer is not evil, they may get acquired.

   "What has been thought of once cannot be taken back anymore." Friedrich Dürrenmatt, Die Physiker (1961)

   See also: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Physicists

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6. LHxBFeb 2019
   This reminds me of Dürrenmatt's "Die Physiker "(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Physicists).

   While this has indeed very scary implications, one should be aware that if it's thinkable, eventually it will be thought (I'm paraphrasing here).

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